Archive | April, 2012

The Village of Winfield is holding a rain barrel sale in coordination with The Conservation Foundation. The Conservation Foundation will be delivering rain barrels to Winfield residents on Saturday morning June 2 at the old fire station on Winfield Rd just north of Roosevelt Rd. Pick up time will be 8:30am-11am. If you have any questions or want to order a rain barrel but can’t pick it up Saturday am, alternate arrangements can be made by contacting Cindy at 630 690 0854.

The rain barrels are 55-gallon containers and are about 48” high. Former olive and pickle barrels have been re-purposed to become rain barrels, including an overflow port, water valve and screened top. They are available in terra cotta, black, gray, and blue. Don’t forget you can use the overflow port for connecting to another rain barrel.

The cost is only $75.00 and covers everything. Please check the website to see other rain barrel accessories that are available.

Also the Conservation Foundation is offering a free education seminar at the Winfield Library on June 14th 7 pm, “Making your yard eco-friendly” – utilizing native plants for absorbing and cleansing water as well as improving the habitat for birds and butterflies! Discussions will include rain barrels, rain gardens, and rain water harvesting!

Please join us for an Arbor Day Celebration on Friday, April 27th at 10 AM next to the Metra Train Station when the Village will be dedicating a commemorative tree to celebrate Arbor Day and our recent efforts to become a Tree City, USA community. We will have a brief ceremony followed by light refreshments.

We are pleased to have Kay McKeen as our keynote speaker for our April 24, 2012 General Meeting. Kay is the founder and Executive Director of SCARCE, (School and Community Association for Recycling and Composting Education). SCARCE is considered to be one of DuPage County’s hidden gems and is a national expert in recycling and other environmental issues.

It all started back in 1990 when Kay was teaching and was concerned about seeing books sitting in storage and eventually being sent to landfills. She organized an operation that would “rescue” these forgotten books and get them in the hands of appreciative people rather than dumping them into landfills. From there, the organization has grown into the go-to-place for a smorgasbord of solutions for environmental issues such as recycling electronics, pharmaceuticals disposal, green initiatives and even idling busses. This wide spectrum of environmental work has brought in a number of awards including several from the State of Illinois.

The SCARCE website if packed full of information. Some of the tags lines are:

SCARCE inspires people, through education, to preserve & care for the Earth’s natural resources, while working to build sustainable communities.

SCARCE helps communities set up recycling extravaganzas and helps people learn how to recycle unwanted items.

If you have questions about recycling (what, when and where)….come and ask our local expert. Kay is a dynamic speaker and will entertain and inform all, from young to old. Take time now to write this date and time on your calendar and attend this informative meeting.

The West-Win Homeowners’ Association provides speakers twice a year during our General Meetings. Topics are selected that help us preserve and maintain our more rural lifestyle. If there is a topic you would like to know more about, let us know, and we will look for a speaker.

Winfield quietly lost one of its model citizens this past week, Dennis Keeler, who in his retirement years decided to give his experience in electrical engineering and sound logic toward a community that was welcome and willing for his talents and his desire to share them.

It was my pleasure and distinct honor to meet him and have worked with him on the Plan Commission in 2005 prior to his decision to successfully run for Village Trustee in 2007.

His unassuming style was a disguise for his vast technical knowledge and expertise which he truly wanted to serve Winfield in any way possible. He did not crave politics or the troublesome bickering that often accompanies those who actually do enjoy being politicians. His goal was to give his advice where he could and seek to listen to residents who cared to share their opinions as well.

He never talked “political agenda” as he never had one. His efforts were cut short far too early due to a health issue, called Multiple System Atrophy, which eventually became life threatening.

He is survived by his lovely wife, Eileen, and his 2 children and 3 grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations are made to the Multiple System Atrophy research at Mayo Clinic, c/o Scott Arthur, Development Dept. 200, First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905. Your thoughts and prayers are deeply appreciated.

Becker’s Hospital Review, a health-care industry publication, has released their list of the 100 Great Hospitals of 2012.

Winfield’s very own Central DuPage Hospital was ranked among the top 100.

Becker’s Review details: “Central DuPage began with 113 beds and 66 physicians when it opened in 1964. Today this 313-bed hospital includes more than 900 physicians, is Magnet-recognized for nursing excellence and was named a Thompson Reuters Top 100 Hospital in 2011. Central DuPage’s cardiac surgery program is affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic, which has been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the number one cardiac program in the nation for 16 consecutive years. The partnership allows Central DuPage surgeons to review patient cases and decide on treatment plans with Cleveland Clinic physicians’ expertise.”